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Phrases related to: almost but not quite there Page #16

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Button Your LipTo be quite, to keep silenceRate it:

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dein Wort in Gottes Ohrfrom your lips to God's ears; I wish; expresses that the speaker wants a preceding statement to be true, but considers it unlikely or at least doubtfulRate it:

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Diamond in the RoughSomeone or something that has lost charm now, but has immense value and the prospective to be stunningRate it:

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do you accept credit cardsUsed to ask whether or not products or services may be paid for by credit card.Rate it:

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Don't Look a Gift Horse in the MouthDon’t complain if you get gift that is not as good as you expect; accept what you've been given without analyzing its valueRate it:

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don't try this at homeA caution that the activity being described or demonstrated is not safe.Rate it:

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drain the swamp when up to one's neck in alligators(idiomatic) When performing a long and complex task, and when you've gotten utterly immersed in secondary and tertiary unexpected tangential subtasks, it's easy to lose sight of the initial objective. This sort of distraction can be particularly problematic if the all-consuming subtask or sub-subtask is not, after all, particularly vital to the original, primary goal, but ends up sucking up time and resources (out of all proportion to its actual importance) only because it seems so urgent.Rate it:

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ejusdem generisA canon of construction holding that when a general term follows a list of particular terms, the general term only applies to things similar to the particular terms. For example, in the list "sun, moon, and other large objects", the phrase "other large objects" only includes celestial bodies, not houses and elephants.Rate it:

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even moneyBy extension, an event that is somewhat likely to happen, but far from inevitable.Rate it:

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exit stage leftAn orderly and uneventful departure, timed so as not to detract or distract.Rate it:

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fuck someone's brains outTo sexually penetrate (or be penetrated) in a voracious but pleasurable manner.Rate it:

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ghost of a chanceusually negative meaning is will not happen.Rate it:

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gray areaA part that is not clear or certain; something that is open to interpretation.Rate it:

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handy as "pockets in your underwire"Means "not at all handy"Rate it:

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happens once in a blue moonAn astronomical event which occurs quite infrequently and observable from the earth.Rate it:

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hell mend someoneExpressing exasperation at someone whose behavior is likely to result in trouble but who will not heed warnings.Rate it:

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I'm all right, JackIndicates a selfish attitude, not worried about any problems one's friends and neighbours might have. Often associated with strikes and other trade union industrial actions.Rate it:

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if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchenIf you cannot handle the pressure, you should not be in a position where you have to deal with it.Rate it:

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il ne sait rien de rien1. He knows absolutely nothing. 2. He is quite in the dark.Rate it:

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in for an inch, in for a mileGiven that one is partly involved in or committed to a project, action, position, etc., there is no reason to refrain from becoming fully involved or fully committed.Rate it:

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it doesn't matterit is not important; do not fretRate it:

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just another pretty faceSomeone who is attractive, but not too distinguished.Rate it:

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keep downTo lie low. To stay concealed by not standing up.Rate it:

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keep downNot to vomit.Rate it:

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Labour of LoveTo do something free of money, work done for love and pleasure, not for the sake of moneyRate it:

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les loups ne se mangent pas entre euxDog does not eat dog; There is honour among thieves. Rate it:

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let me seeUsed as a filled pause to indicating thinking or pondering, not inviting hearer to participate.Rate it:

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nice guys finish lastPeople who are decent, friendly, and agreeable tend to be unsuccessful because they are outmaneuvered or overwhelmed by others who are not so decent, friendly, or agreeable.Rate it:

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no biggieNot a big deal, not something to worry about.Rate it:

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nobody's perfectUsed when someone's mistakes or flaws are acknowledged, to remind that everyone else makes mistakes and has flaws1995, New York Magazine Vol. 28, No. 5, 30 January 1995, The de-moralization of society (Book Review)Hypocrisy, particularly in sexual matters, is excused on the grounds that hey, nobody's perfect, and at least folks back then felt bad enough to lie.2000, Madonna, Nobody's PerfectI feel so sad. What I did wasn't right. I feel so bad and I must say to you: Sorry, but nobody's perfect. Nobody's perfect. What did you expect? I'm doing my bestRate it:

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Nothing New Under the SunEverything is almost the same as seen before, everything happening now has happened previouslyRate it:

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Once in a Blue MoonVery seldom, scarcely, not very often, hardly everRate it:

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one swallow doesn't make a springAlternative form of one swallow does not a summer make.Rate it:

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out of orderNot functioning properly.Rate it:

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paper tigerA seemingly fierce or powerful person, country or organisation without the ability to back up their words; apparently powerful but actually ineffective.Rate it:

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poisoned chaliceA scheme or instrument for causing death or harm, especially one which eventually brings about the downfall of its creator; something which is initially regarded as advantageous but which is later recognized to be disadvantageous or harmful.Rate it:

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que diable allait-il faire dans cette galère?Whatever induced him to get into that fix? Whatever business had he there?Rate it:

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red face testA hypothetical test of a person's embarrassment, that is either passed or failed. Saying one passes the red face test means one would not blush and thus would not be embarrassed by disclosing something to others or doing something, and saying one fails the red face test means a situation would cause them discernible embarrassment.Rate it:

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round downTo the greatest integer that is not greater than it, or to some other lower value, especially a whole number of hundreds, thousands, etc.Rate it:

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throw dirt enough, and some will stickIf enough allegations are made about someone or something, then even if they are all untrue, people's opinion of the person or thing will be diminished.1759, John Wesley, letter to John Downes, Rector of St. Michael's, Wood Street, read at Wesley Center Online at on 14 Oct 06.I hope...that you are ignorant of the whole affair, and are so bold only because you are blind...And blind enough; so that you blunder on through thick and thin, bespattering all that come in your way, according to the old, laudable maxim, 'Throw dirt enough, and some will stick.'1857, Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown's Schooldays, read at fullbooks.com on 14 Oct 06,But whatever harm a spiteful tongue could do them, he took care should be done. Only throw dirt enough, and some will stick.1864, John Henry Newman, Apologia Pro Vita Sua, Penguin Classics (1994), p. 10,Archbishop Whately used to say Rate it:

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throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stickTry the same thing (or similar things) often enough, and, even if the general standard is poor, sometimes one will be successful.2001, And still no one is shouting stop. read in The Kingdom archives at on 02 Nov 06,Many team managers are of the philosophy that if you throw enough mud at the wall some of it will stick. They believe that team preparation is all about physical fitness. They run the players into the ground and they believe they will be "flying on the day".2001, Robert McCrum, Let them eat cake, in The Observer 16 Dec 01, read on Guardian Unlimited site at on 02 Nov 06,Australian publishing boomed and in the past 10 years the country's literary culture has undergone a mini golden age, capped by Carey's triumph at the 2001 Booker Prize. As one Australian arts administrator said to me many years ago: 'Listen, mate, if you throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick.'2001, Chris Collin, Re: 2-cp speys on The Strathspey Server mailing list archive at on 02 Nov 06,I am finding that "if you throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick". It doesn't always work of course (especially on the nights when the class is mostly the beginners), but the class seems to thrive on the challange.2005, Ray Craft (poster on The right scale blog), Fitzhooie and his Burden, read at on 02 Nov 06,Prosecutors everywhere have bad habits of overcharging lots of cases, knowing that if the throw enough mud at the wall some of it will stick.2005, Sean Kelleher, Spike Milligan: His part in our downfall in Business 07 Aug 05, read at on 02 Nov 06,As long as there is negligible regulation and enforcement anyone can actually try and do the job...Weak regulation allows the industry to build strategies on full time recruitment. The theory goes: throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick.c2005, Everything You've Learned About Marketing Is Wrong, read on LINC Performance website at on 02 Nov 06,They have the money to continue to believe in the repetition side of the equation. You throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick. But it still isnRate it:

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under no circumstancesnever ever, not for any reasonRate it:

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vieil ami et vieux vin sont vraiment deux bons vieux, mais vieux écus sont encore mieuxOld friends and old wine are good, but old gold is better than both.Rate it:

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vous ne savez pas où le bât le blesseYou do not know where the shoe pinches him.Rate it:

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wait for the other shoe to dropTo await a seemingly inevitable event, especially one which is not desirable.Rate it:

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wouldn't give two hoots n a holler / ... two hoots and a hollerdefinition: it isn't worth much, or I wouldn't put much stock in it - it is not believable, or wouldn't pay attention to it.Rate it:

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you can't take it with youIt is not possible to take one's material wealth to whatever world may await one after death.1900, E. Phillips Oppenheim, A Millionaire of Yesterday, ch. 6:"The clause whichRate it:

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笑貧不笑娼lit. despising poverty but not prostitutionRate it:

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under one's breathSoftly, so as not to be heard.Rate it:

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you get more with a kind word and a gun than you do with a kind word aloneIt is advantageous not to rely solely on being nice.Rate it:

(2.80 / 5 votes)

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